Since there are no matches in Aikido we should give careful thought to the nature of our practice. The spiritual side of practice is also important, but if we overemphasize it our training becomes idealistic in nature...
Archive - 2015
Looking Back at the All-Japan Aikido Demonstration by Stanley Pranin
Aikido Journal #118 (Fall/Winter 1999) I recently attended the All-Japan Aikido Demonstration sponsored by the Aikikai Hombu Dojo for perhaps the 20th time. The 1999 event was held on May 22 at the Nippon Budokan in...
Koichi Tohei and Training in Japan by Stanley Pranin
This article is the second in a series of four autobiographical articles by Aiki News Editor-in-chief Stanley Pranin and was first published in 1990 in Wushu, a Japanese-language magazine dealing with Chinese martial...
Interview with Koichi Tohei, by Stanley Pranin
Interview conducted by Stanley Pranin, July 11th, 1995 “I began studying aikido because I saw that Ueshiba Sensei had truly mastered the art of relaxing. It was because he was relaxed, in fact, that he could...
“Interview with André Cognard (1),” by Stanley Pranin
André Cognard was born in France in 1954. He was 17 years old when he started teaching aikido to adults, by opening five dojos in several cities in France. Four years later, he received the French state diploma for...
Is O-Sensei Really the Father of Modern Aikido?, by Stanley Pranin
From Aikido Journal #109, 1996 After practicing and researching aikido for a number of years I gradually arrived at a hypothesis that went against conventional wisdom and the testimonies of numerous shihan who claimed...
Interview with Swordmaster Kiyoshi Nakakura, Part 1 by Hideo Yamanaka and Stanley Pranin
“I had the feeling that no one could beat me. I had rarely lost a match before, and I absolutely did not want to be defeated especially by people in Tokyo.” The text below is the first of a two-part...
The Dawn of Tomiki Aikido by Seiji Tanaka
First of all, I would like to explain how, where and why Tomiki Aikido started. It goes back to the month of April, 1958 when Waseda University approved our Aikido Club as an officially sanctioned sport club (called...
The Beauty of Budo: Interview with Mitsunari Kanai
This is an excerpt of an interview with Mitsunari Kanai Sensei, conducted by Stanley Pranin, which took place on August 22, 1979, at the New England Summer Camp. This interview will be included in our upcoming Aikido...
Remembering Morihiro Saito Sensei Part 1, by Stanley Pranin
Morihiro Saito began his aikido training in Iwama in 1946, under Morihei Ueshiba. After the latter’s death in 1969, Saito Sensei continued teaching and preserving the art just the way O-Sensei did. In the summer...